


Back Against a Wall, Gun to My Head

by Dust (sugoi)



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Cults, M/M, Mild Gore, Modern Era, Polyamory Negotiations, Random & Short, Survival Horror, The Iron Lords (Destiny), Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:55:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28851699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugoi/pseuds/Dust
Summary: You've lost hope that tomorrow will bring a better day, it's been weeks and no one has come to save you, part of you is half convinced the government was simply waiting for you all to die out before they act, cull the virus out by starvation, and no matter how long they scrounge and scrape to survive nothing was coming to banish the darkness back to where it belonged...
Relationships: Felwinter/Timur (Destiny)
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one's going to be Timur POV, Modern post apocalyptic.. Jumping around point in his life some connected some not. All pretty short
> 
> Zombies pretty much mutated hive/ taken/fallen variants. Highly contagious, nasty businesss

You suspected something was wrong with the man the moment he tried to breach the abandoned apartment unit you and your ragtag group of survivors were holed up for the night.

He was but a wounded survivor looking for shelter, you and your group tried to turn him away, fought him off for hours and in the end he relented and left..you thought you'd never hear that voice again but it wasn't the last you saw of him.

He had claimed to be a soldier with an arsenal of weapons at his disposal, the most your group had was an old baseball bat, and a hand saw saladin bought from his boss's garage sale last year.

Hardly weapons of choice but coupled with your muscle strength and Efrideet's martial arts training it kept your blood clean and the infected at bay.

He tried to barter, his weapons for shelter, but Radegast said no, he didn't trust him, not with all psychopaths running around, and barbaric cults forming after the quarantine, skorri quickly agreed, the scars on her face still fresh from Dryden's razor, it would scar but ultimately it would heal, but the trauma that bastard instilled in the timid singer would cling to her until the day she died.

You trusted your group and respected their opinions, they were your friends and co-workers and frankly all you had left in this world on fire.

So even if it meant leaving someone to those..things, even If it felt so many levels of wrong, you heed their warnings and trusted their decisions.

You tell him no, there is no shelter there, urge him to move on before the sun sets and the lost come trailing after him.

He begs, his tired voice was hoarse and full of a desperation that makes your throat tighten, and your stomach flip, and for a moment you don't want to be you anymore.

To be the man on the other side of the door, capable of helping save a life but turning a blind eye, it feels disgusting to know days earlier you were in the same dire predicament.

You don't want to be the one to sign his death warrant, so you insist in a voice tight with guilt, that he finds a safe hiding place elsewhere, you silently pray to god his silence meant he had followed your advice.

He doesn't answer after that and you sigh to yourself in guilty relief, noting with shame that if he was to die you didn't want to hear it, selfish ignorance in many cases was bliss.

The night comes and with it the howling screams, they not only sound of the dead but of evil, wretched beast festering on hate and agony, the sounds of the unfortunate snared in their endless dance join their ranks and for hours it's a cacophony of chaos.

You've lost hope that tomorrow will bring a better day, it's been weeks and no one has come to save you, part of you is half convinced the government was simply waiting for you all to die out before they act, cull the virus out by starvation, and no matter how long they scrounge and scrape to survive nothing was coming to banish the darkness back to where it belonged...

But here in this boarded up apartment filled with a dozen weeping candles and a handful of heavy hearts, your alive and your people are safe...so that's something.


	2. Fractured Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You couldn't do that to them, not after everything you've been through, you couldn't have slept at night having their deaths on your conscious...

On day four they breach the barrier, tearing off the wooden planks and trying to force their way in through windows much too small for their disproportionate and bulging bodies.

Their cries and screams are torture to your ears, you and Radegast act as a wall to keep them at bay, for as long as the two of you can you hold them while the others make off to safety, the older man had started brandishing shower curtain rod like a jousting poll, knocking the once human ghouls off the floor with his strength alone, but eventually both of you were pushed back as more and more flooded in like a overflowing rat's nest.

You thank the heavens Efrideet was awake when they decided to attack the hideout, and even more thankful for Saladin and skorri's strict emergency evacuation drills.

You knew where to go and how to get out as fast as possible, you grab Radegast, forcing the older man out the door and onto the fire escape.

Unfortunately on his way down Radegast's shoe snags on one of the rusty steps and the man stumbles. It's not far, but as he falls he takes part of the rust bitten fire escape with him, a cloud of rust billowing up as the metal clatters to the ground below.

What's left is broken off a good ways down, and for a moment you hesitate, frozen as terror flares to life in your mind, what the possibility of being injured in a world such as this would intone, but you have little time to consider the cons of jumping from such a height very long, not with the infected bursting out the windows behind you, and your group's panicked screams for you to move your ass below you.

So you jump and come hurtling down onto the concrete road with all the grace of a falling piano, landing with a sickening crack in your left knee as it connects with the asphalt, sharp jarring pain travels up the expanse of your hamstring, and for a moment you don't recognize the shrill wail that floods your ears as your very own voice.

In a flurry of movement and sound saladin and Radegast are dragging you, the rocks and crushed glass bite and dig into your ratty clothes into the flesh beneath, your sure it hurts but even that is eclipsed by the pain in your leg, immediately you forgive them, they don't have time to carry you properly, not with all the other unbreakable bodies falling to the ground around you, all you can do is stare up at their panicked faces and the outside sky...

In that moment you realize...your outside and the sun is shining...

Why were they still active?? You raise your weary eyes to the sunny sky, its tinted red, clouded with smoke and debris, to the festering house behind you..

wondering even through your dazed and delirious state, if they were evolving to survive just like you...

You wake up with a headache and in too much pain to justify living another day, your leg has been crudely splinted, a thick wooden plank, tied down with belts donated by saladin and Radegast.

Skorri who used to take nursing classes announces that you fractured your shin, and while it heals you should avoid using it..

Which was utterly hilarious to you, there was no time to rest, the world was falling apart around them and they wanted you to rest? Were they mad?!

from now on you'd be a dead weight, a burden holding them back, and making them vulnerable and draining their resources, all it took was a single bite and it was game over.

You couldn't do that to them, not after everything you've been through, you couldn't have slept at night having their deaths on your conscience...

So you quietly make a choice...

You nod and thank Skorri for her helpful assessment, leaning back against the dusty sheet with the intention to only rest, but somewhere along the lines sleep crept in anyway and dragged you off anyways.

Gentle hands shake you from your sleep, and you wake to a thermos of watery but warm coffee and some expired aspirin, courtesy of Radegast.

He sits with you for a while as you drink, the room is heavy with words left unspoken, you can feel the guilt and shame radiating off the man In waves as palpable as a brick wall.

When he finally speaks it's to ask if you feel as shitty as you look, and you in turn ask if he ever completed that shitty car project he was working on at the behest of all his neighbors.

He admits that he gave up almost half a year ago when his arthritis started getting too bad, and you tell "Good, it was doomed from the start!" And the laughs that follow disperse just some of the weight from both of your shoulders.

From the outside looking in, no one would have known you two spent the better half of your lives as neighbors locked in a state of constant contempt of each other, filing petty complaints on overgrown grass, and harassing the authorities about the simplest of noises.

Back when the saying "hate thy neighbor" was a virtue you both functioned your daily lives around ..all of that seems so long ago, so foreign now.

Your leg hurts, the aspirin does little to nothing, you wish there was something stronger but you dare not ask in fear that Skorri and Efrideet might try to raid a hospital or drugstore.

It's not worth the risk, you aren't worth the risk...

When night comes and everyone falls into an exhausted slumber, you slip from your makeshift bed and hobble away, you quietly pass a sleeping Skorri dosing against the boarded up window sill, you hesitate memorizing her face for likely the last time before leaving, the garage isn't the sturdiest of places to bunk down in but your confidant they shouldn't need to move base for at least two more days...

You slip through the barricaded doors and out into the street, it's empty and dark, even the wind seems to still and heavy, most of the street lights have either burst from fluctuations in electrical current or just reached the end of their bulb life expectancy, their absence leaving the roads shrouded in shadow.

You hobble along, clinging to the walls for balance, trying your best to make yourself as invisible as possible, to breathe quietly and stay calm, but each traitorous breath sounds like the only noise breaking the silence, and the echo of each step sends your anxiety through the roof, for a second, that coward who resides deep within your heart begs for you to return to your group , slip back into the safety of the garage before anyone notices your gone..

But you don't, instead you keep hobbling forward until you find a seemingly abandoned storefront, its door smashed and ajar, looted of anything worth considering but if you pushed one of the alse racks in the doorway you could barricade yourself safely inside. Honestly, you're surprised you weren't attacked already.

Yes that was the plan, your leg screamed in protest as you set to work but you pushed yourself anyway, securing the main entryway and searching for others, there was none. Which was good and bad, good that there was only one way for the infected to get in, bad because if they did there was no escape but the way they came in from.

You allowed yourself to look around a bit before you settled in for the night, you searched the utility cabinet surprised to find it was overlooked in the ransacking, you gratefully snagged. A thick and long metal crowbar and a small but tentatively used first aid kit, it had nothing strong like morphine, but the Excedrin migraine was a godsend..

You shuffled back behind the cashier counter, and sitting with your back against the cool metal made you feel solid, reminded you this wasn't some terrible nightmare...

In the safety of seclusion you allow yourself a courtesy you never would have allowed yourself back in the company of your group.

You cry, for your friends, for your family, for the child...your child that you spared in a moment of insanity, a moment in which you were unaware Saladin was smashing through your basement door to rescue you...

You let all the pent up stress and pain bleed out of you, like a running faucet draining out until your spent and to emotionally raw and physically exhausted to do much else but rest

You eventually doze off watching the ravenous shadows run to and fro through the street outside, their hungry desperate screams distorting the night.


	3. Reckless Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sound of a screech and clattering trash cans shatter the silence startling you out of your deliberations, you stiffen as a metal lid rolls slowly around the corner only to fall flat, beyoned it is a large looming shadow, there's a tense second you raise the crow bar ready to bash the creatures's head in the minute it rounds the corner.

Dawn comes too early, you wake to a stiff back and throbbing knee perplexed as to how you survived the night, surly they should have torn the doors down and torn you apart...but you woke, alive but alone to an empty trashed store, light trickling in through the dusty glass windows, all the noise was gone and the world outside dead, no birds or bugs...just silence.

It was unnerving but a part of you wanted to hide, a small part of yourself telling you "I should stay... it's safe here" but your instincts were wise, they screamed at you to never linger too long, and those instincts won the war of logic in your head.

You shove the first aid kit into your backpack while hooking the crowbar into your utility belt, and begin carefully making your way out of the trashed convenience store.

Peeking out the crushed door before stepping out onto an empty sidewalk, the place is trashed. But that's nothing new...these.. things they destroy unbiasedly, like a plague of termites on a sick tree.

Your stomach growls viciously but you ignore the hunger pains, leaning your weight on the crowbar as a makeshift can you make your way deeper into the city, previously your group's goal was to make it to the disaster relief refuge center somewhere in the pit of the city.

A month and a half ago Saladin picked up a broadcast on his antique mini survival radio, the promise of protection and rations motivated your group to leave Radegast's empty loft and brave the trip despite your blatant skepticism.

As much a cynic as you were, you all knew none of you were really left with a choice, the infected were slowly burrowing their way inside, the sounds of them within the walls was a clear warning that it was only a matter of time before they found their way in.

You still stick to the plan to hide there, hopefully...if you manage to make it you can meet your friends there, you pray to god they make it, the thought of someone becoming one of those... Things left a bad taste in your mouth.

You find yourself ambling through what looks like an abandoned shopping district, it's still eerily quiet, and the feeling that your being watched has intensified.

But nothing confronts you save for overgrown foliage determined to reclaim society's landmarks and countless road signs directing to a dead mall, a McDonald's and a gas station that's more likely than not siphoned dry by now.

You consider investigating the McDonald's... by now it's mid-day and the only thing you've eaten in the past 24 hours is 4 Excedrin pills and a half of a bottle of water, hunger pains have given way to a dull fatigued nauseous.

But with your waning energy and the likelihood of only spoiled food left if anything at all, you deemed it too risky to investigate.

The sound of a screech and clattering trash cans shatter the silence startling you out of your deliberations, you stiffen as a metal lid rolls around the corner only to fall flat, beyond it is a large looming shadow, there's a tense second you raise the crow bar ready to bash the culprits's head in the minute it rounds the corner.

But in a flash, brown and black steaks past you before you can even properly swing the crowbar down, you whip around to face the creature relief immediately flooding your veins as you realize it's just a dog.

A large shepherd of some sort you'd suspect, you were never good with species, but what has you more intrigued by its presence is the plump rat in it's mouth and the peculiar antennaed collar around its neck.

The dog stares you down with curious but untrusting eyes no doubt, frightened by your previous but sad attempt to bash it's head in.

Desperately you try to appeal to it's better nature, slowly setting down the crow bar and beckoning to it, trying to make yourself as least intimidating as possible, but for all your best efforts the dog runs and so does the promise of food, but your hungry and the idea of meat is motivation enough to recklessly chase after the skittish beast.

By all rights you shouldn't have been able to keep up, not with your bad leg..but the dog runs abnormally slow, stopping every block or so, to seemingly waiting for you to catch up before taking off again.

You don't stop to consider where it's leading you, or if the trap you're likely walking into is worth the rat in its jaws, but you're hungry and desperate.

It leads you into the mall, only a few lights work, part of you screams for you to turn around, never tread in dark places, but hunger drives you on, in the past months weeds have started sprouting from every the corner and crevice that light shines, the escalators have long frozen covered in dust and scattered abandoned belongings.

You don't take the time to evaluate why the state of the place makes your heart drop, it should be expected by now..  
You've It's been quarantined for months why wouldn't it look like this...

The dog takes a sharp right, darting into a small gap in a half gate locked barnes and nobles, you quickly follow suit.

Thinking back on your foolishness, you're pretty lucky the blow of the rifle's butt against your head wasn't a bullet altogether.

You collapse, blacking out to the sound of the dog's barking and foreign and familiar voices above you.


	4. The Book Store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somewhere close by something crashes to the floor, the sound of clanking metal and blunt objects hitting the floor makes your heart seize, beside you the Shepard moves to stand between you and the doorway you were planning to escape through next, peeling it's lips back in a menacing yet soundless snarl, the fur on its nape rising to stand on end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone got some intense spooky music suggestions? Id like some to vibe with whilst writing 👀

Your jolted awake by the slimy lap of a wet tongue and the stench of rancid dog breath, it wasn't how you expected to wake, but it was a far cry from being dead which you certainly thought you were, beneath you is a mound of what looks like retail clothes, the tags still attached despite being covered in dust, it's soft... definitely softer than anything you've had the luxury to sleep on in the past months.

Blearily you try to make sense of your surroundings, it looks like your still inside the barns and nobles, everything is dim, you can hardly see the canine in front of you, but the distinct smell of rotting and moldy books is a call back to the memories of days long past, endless hours hiding within the pages of fiction and literature, tucked away, safe and hidden between the endless rows of books the small bookstore in your youth had to offer, back when everything was so raw and emotions were delicate, the world seemed against you, things so trivial seemed so important back then, how you would give anything to relive some of those days and do things differently...

Above you the sound of a clattering rusty fan kicks to life, it's a terribly intrusive sound, more likely than not it's on it's last leg, Gently you push the excited dog out of your space and move to sit up, as you do the dark room sways a bit, as your mind fully rouses to alertness you distantly recall being struck, and instinctively a hand raises to assess the damage anxiously, half expecting to find a gaping weeping hole, instead your trembling fingers find the rough fabric of medical grade bandage.

Curiously your fingers press tenderly against the wrapped area and flinch away as you're met with a dull but sharp throb, one that brings about the awareness to the splitting migraine quaking within your skull.

Beside you the dog barks, and you jump, startled at its voice which is all too loud, quickly you beckon at the dog trying to placate the creature but have to snatch your hand back, for no sooner than you reach for it, the little beast snaps at your outstretched hand, and continues barking like mad, as if you hadn't just awoken to the fickle little creature bathing your face in it's Saliva.

A light flicks on, above your head, movement in your peripheral causes you to start and freeze as something or someone shifts closure, you hadn't noticed them there, but they had to have been present since the moment the dog awoke you, seated on the floor in the dark watching you like some kind of ghoul.

Your lungs seized and for a moment you can't breath, part of you is almost too afraid to look, but you do anyways because if a infected was about to launch itself at you, you wanted to see that fucker coming, so defiantly you raise your head, and meet not gaunt oily bodies with distorted limbs but a full suit of military armor and helmet.

It was a soldier.. At least you think it's a soldier, their tattered uniform was a tad odd, but you knew little better, they approached you like you're some kind of wild animal, hands held up calmly in efforts to placate you, and maybe it was for the best..

If your going to be completely honest...your terrified, and terrified people don't make the best decisions, You don't know if they mean you any harm or harbor any ill intent like the last band of survivors you and your companions encountered, but seeing as they bandaged your head they must need you alive at least for now, but that's no guarantee they won't hurt you if you don't have, or refuse to give them what they want.

They edge closure to you and Instinctively you tense, arms pulling closure to your body defensively, unsure if you should be wary of your new companion or not.

"Wait-Calm down, I won't hurt you again, I hit you pretty hard back there, I'm..sorry I thought you were one of them, Here-" his height alone already led you to suspect they were male, but the deep and oddly familiar voice confirmed your suspicions.

He shifted down to his knees, putting him closure to your level on the floor, slowly sliding the rifle from his shoulder and out of his arms reach

"were you alone?, are there others looking for you right now? Where is the rest of your crew?" He asked urgently, his tone too neutral for you to decipher any hidden reasoning behind his line of questioning past logical human priorities, still you don't mention the others, if he was some kind of maniac you wouldn't drag them down with you or give him a lead.

"No...I- I was alone when you hit me" oddly enough the soldier hesitated at your words, why? you were unsure but you didn't like how still he had become, you could feel his eyes scanning you even if you couldn't see them through his reflective headgear.

"You were alone..? Where is your crew..?" He asked voice even and frighteningly familiar, suddenly you felt a chill run up your spine, stumble over your words to save face.

"N-no..I mean I was with one other person but we split and I haven't seen her in days" you glare at the floor, not wanting him to see the lie in your eyes, it was obvious he was aware you weren't telling the whole truth, the silence that followed was awkward and weighted.

Did he sense your deceit again? It wouldn't matter anyways, you would not reveal the whereabouts of your friends to a complete stranger even if they claimed to be a soldier, you need to get away, somewhere safe and alone! Where you can collect your thoughts and let your leg heal a bit.

Your eyes quickly flitter across the room trying to locate all the exits and doorways, sadly you only find one which is to the left of the both of you, a weathered looking door pocked with rust, a brass knob hanging loosely in its socket, it wouldn't be hard to kick in if need be, what lies behind is unknown to you, but if he turned violent you'd be left with no other choice but to make a blind dash for it, Your mind is splayed, fretting, trying to foresee any possible slip up in your formulating plan until he spoke again, drawing your attention back to him, this time his low voice was oddly tinged with what sounded like contempt, it caught you off guard.

"Did they leave you behind because of this?"

He asked, as he slowly placed a tentative hand against the crude wood splint that stabilized your wounded leg, the flinch he receives is not out of pain but simply unfamiliar contact, it still hurts but only if you use it, for now it's only a numb throbbing accompanied by pins and needles, your not even sure how he managed to get that close without you noticing, his hand was warm even through the glove, it brought to light just how cold the dark room was, but your mind wasn't focusing on that but instead his words...

'They..?' How did he know about the others?!' Alarm bells went off in your mind as memories of the cult your crew had just nearly been snared by, how they watched and studied you before sending a lure to infiltrate your group and steer you into their trap, it wasn't a mistake you would be keen to make again, and the fact that this man was aware that you were travelling in a group was a blatant red flag.

"No I-we just went our separate ways! How long have you kept me here?! I need to leave! Now! I have places to be!" You hissed guardedly, scrambling back, hurriedly attempting to stand despite your wounded leg's protest, your anxiety was giving way into anger, and confusion, who was he to assume you were just abandoned, they would never have done that to you!

"Calm down it's just a-no! Stop wait!- " His words fall on death ears, the dog barks in alarm as you bolt for the broken door, hoping that your head run will put enough space in-between the two of you, to your surprise the door opens easily, outside the room everything is dim, your not sure which way is out but you run anyways. 

You must have been holed up in the one of the storage room closets, because the next room looks like any generic employee lounge area, excessive sticky notes detailing schedules and false inspirational quotes are stuck to a moldy peg board hanging from the nearest wall, rust covered lockers line the corners of the room, safety certifications and awards taped to every surface yes it was definitely a break room.

A wobbly office table covered in outdated magazines tumbles over as you stumble by trying to gauge your surroundings in the dim lighting, you think nothing of the noise it makes as it clatters to the floor, everything looks like it's been hit by a hurricane, there's no glowing exit beacon indicating an exit so you head to the closest doorway with a light source you can find, but that turns out to be just another room, lit by a small unshielded bulb flickering from the ceiling, it was just as small as the last room but a lot more cluttered, rusted pipes coil around the ceiling. Vanishing into the decaying walls, and rancid moldy storage boxes take up most of the floor space.

Unfortunately the room also looks to be a dead end, panic sets it as you push off the wall lamenting having to backtrack but having little choice but to in hopes of finding another escape route, unfortunately you don't make it far before he finds you, the soldier appears from around the very corner you came from and you just manage to reel back to avoid crashing into him.

But he keeps advancing on you and there's little time to react before the soldier lurches for you, his sudden movement catching you off guard and you flinch, just long enough for his body to crash into yours, pinning you to the floor with his weight, you retaliate by kicking out, desperately trying to gain space, but in your panic it's haphazard and sloppy, you miss several times, a fist swings but he catches it easily, roughly pinning it to your chest, then uses his leg and knee to crush your only good leg to the floor. 

You struggle against his weight but fruitlessly so, your rendered Immobile and defenseless and that terrifies you, it only fuels your panic until you eventually wear yourself out, finally you relent falling limp in defeat, still gripped by fear but too exhausted to keep fighting him, deafened by the blood roaring in your ears, and the sound of an erratic drumming heartbeat, if you are hyperventilating you wouldn't be able to tell, you just wish if he intended to kill you he'd get it over with quickly

But he doesn't hurt you, seconds tick by, the two of you stay like that, for how long you don't know but it's enough time for your rapid heartbeat to begin to slow into a much more calmer state, the sound of the dogs whimpering becomes audible as your ears finally stop ringing with adrenaline, and for the first time you realize he's talking to you...or at least trying to, his voice is soft and you can hear a telltale accent hidden within his words and suddenly you realize why he sounded familiar...

"Hey, Are you calm now?, you're not going to do anything rash if I let you up right? Because if you do i'll be forced to immobilize you again.. " He asks slowly, as if he's demanding your compliance, while still trying to catch his breath from your skirmish, his vice grip on you slacking just a tad after you nod an affirmation, feeling exhaustion tug at your limbs and praying he'll get off you soon.

"Listen, I'm going to let you up very soon, but before I do, I need you to understand that I have no intentions of harming you, you are not a hostage but if you try to leave right now you will die, those things out there will tear you apart."

Slowly, he releases you and moves away cautiously to give you much needed space, and you deflate shrinking away from him to press your back against the wall, desperately trying to catch your breath "what are those things? Where is the rest of the military? How are you still alive?" You demand rubbing at your arm, it'll bruise but it's the least of your worries.

"Could ask you the same thing, how long have you been roaming alone out there in that condition..?" He asked, while sympathy was evident in his voice you also noted he blatantly ignored your line of questioning, immediately you feel weary, it must be evident because he pauses awkwardly as well, when he answers your concerns his reply is hardly comforting and even less satisfying

"I worked in special ops, my job is simply to assess the range of the damage..but I got separated from My squad..I don't know what the hell happened here...we don't get that kind of information just our duties..I'm sor- " 

You both jump then freeze as a ghastly howl slices through the silence of the store, somewhere close by something crashes to the floor, the sound of clanking metal and blunt objects hitting the floor makes your heart seize, beside you the Shepard moves to stand between you and the doorway you were planning to escape through next, peeling it's lips back in a menacing yet soundless snarl, the fur on its nape rising to stand on end.

Everything falls into a heavy silence, as you both listen to the sound of something large shifting through the piles of fallen books and debris from the collapsed ceiling, heavy claws clinking against shattered glass give away just how close it is, you can't gauge how many there are but it's definitely more than one.

The shepherd's head lowers, and you can feel the silent rumble of a growl in its throat, a sharp jap to your arm, has you swinging your head and fist around only to hesitate when you find the soldier beckoning to you in the dark, silently pointing hurriedly to the storage room you just left, you nod stealing a glance across the dark room, nothing has entered the partially ajar doorway the sounds were coming from...the doorway you would have blindly fled out of minutes ago had he not stopped you..

Your eyes flick from the doorway to the storage room, there was little to deliberate, you still don't want to trust him, but you have little choice..

Slowly you creep backwards and he follows, herding you back to the safety of the other room, wordlessly ordering the dog to follow with a single tap to its flank, but before you make it back into the storage room a sound of commotion erupts from the room across from you, shattering the tense silence.

Chaotic thrashing and thumping, followed by a shrill grating noise assaulting your ears like metal being ground together, the sounds of the book aisles and their books being toppled over fills the silence, then a guttural roar arises followed by a loud thump, a cloud of dust showers the both of you as something hits the wall before you with enough force to dislodge paint chips on the other side.

It sounded like fighting, no you were certain it was fighting, but you've witnessed the lost in a skirmish before, and you'll be damned if it sounded anything like what you were witnessing right now, what the hell was fighting in the store front!?

More paint bursts from the wall as the impact continues slamming brutally against it, the shrill screams raising higher and more frantic, the feeling of acidy bile rose up in the back of your throat as your stomach threatened to up heave what little contents that may have been residing there, something was dying and these were its death throes.

You hardly noticed you had ceased movement, gripped by horror as the brutal slaying played out just a doorway away, what would happen when it got bored? Would it seek you out and kill you the same ghastly way?! Your partly grateful when the soldier nudges you, you had lost the will to move on your own trembling feet, you let him slowly steer you into the room all the while the wails go on, once safely inside, slides the door shut slowly, then pins it with a thick makeshift bolt lock across the door.

Once secured he slides down on the other side of it with a silent sigh, giving the dog a comforting pat then turns his attention to you.

"How are you holding up?" He asks softly, his voice heavy with weariness and in any other circumstance you may have thought his voice attractive, but your stuck here in a dilapidated bookstore, in a mall overrun with real live monsters not infected humans or zombies that were once human..creatures that sound like they never held any grasp on humanity...just a wall away from your person, you were not okey...you were anything but okey!

You blink numbly, trying to mentally block out the horrid screams of terror and brutality taking place a few walls away, when you respond, it's with another question, forgoing the obvious answer and asking far more urgent ones.

"What..the hell were th-those things?!" Your companion simply shrugs, shaking his head slowly, while he scratched behind the dog's ears.

"They started popping up a week or two ago, mostly in the larger cities, didn't think they'd spread here already, don't worry as long as we're quiet they won't bother us.."

He said it so casually you find yourself gawking, no more than 72 hours ago you were chased out an apartment window by ravenous infected, did he expect you to believe that?, your face must show your incredulity because he continues on.

"I've been here a few nights, they show little interest in us unless we are in plain sight..they're too preoccupied with each other..which is good for us, I guess..at least for now"

He says this with the air of someone who knows exactly why they aren't dead yet and but it doesn't sooth you one bit, yet you hold in your sharp comments, there is little the two of you can do until mor-.

"What time is it?" You ask, the question is out of the blue, the soldier doesn't even check his PDA or watch before he answers with Certainty

"O-two hundred, Why do you ask?"  
"Well, when this whole thing started, early reports warned us to travel only by day, that the infected were strictly nocturnal, but as of late...w-I've witnessed abnormalities in their activity patterns."

The words hung heavy in the air as they both considered the implications, there was no concrete evidence to make a proper assessment yet, but if your suspicions had any truth to them, and the infected were indeed evolving diurnal habits in response to the survivor's travel precautions, It meant they weren't mindless zombies like the media previously stated before it went off air..You haven't even considered what those..things are roaming outside the room into the equation.

Thought of Skorri and the others cornered and desperately fighting for their lives makes your heart wrench, oh god, you pray the others are ok, you should never have left them, even if you were slow you could have served as a-

A hand to your shoulder pulls you away from your downward spiral, "What's your name?" His voice is a quiet whisper and it makes you notice the commotion outside has died down into dead silence again, as if it was simply an empty bookstore, and none of the brutality taking place out there ever happened, the old fan could still be heard rattling in the other room but no sign of any of the disturbances taking place minutes ago.

"Timur" You answer distractedly following his lead and using a hushed voice as well, there's no doubt those creatures are still in the vicinity even if you can't hear them, you're exhausted and weary, you won't be taking any chances.

He gives a curt nod in acknowledgment but you don't get his name in return, and frankly that irks you, your two seconds from boldly inquiring yourself (you were trying to reach for the olive branch you had assumed he had extended, but you gave him your name as a means to build trust not to simply sate his curiosity).

But the words die in your mouth, as he reaches for a bag clipped to the straps of his military belt, pathetically you watch with unabashed longing as he withdraws a microwavable hot pocket and some off brand juice pouch, your stomach chooses that moment to be an utter dick and growl obnoxiously loud, you don't have to stare long as seconds later its being held out to you.

"For..me?" You ask dubiously trying to keep hope from seeping into your voice lest you misread his offer.

"Yea Here, Eat, it's cold but I think it's still edible"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got a bit long, future chaps will be likely shorter. But yay Felwinter as reentered the chat 8D

**Author's Note:**

> About the m/m/m tag it wont be that prevalent, so im not tagging the other pairing yet until we actually get closer to there. But anyones who knows of my brain boner for Shaxx wouldnt need to guess.


End file.
